A student-led history project is
now a permanent part of our branch archives!

Students from Hope Public School’s
Environmental and Spatial Technology (EAST) program recently presented our
staff with an overview of research on the history of public education in
Hempstead County. The project, “200 Years of Education in Hempstead County,” is
in honor of the county’s bicentennial.

Current students Drake Mason and
Jacqueline Culley and recent graduates Jackson Bowlin and Elizabeth Bamber put
the yearlong project together. The students conducted 10 oral history
interviews and used resources from our branch to complete a timeline and to
create a 40-minute CD. The research project delves into the county’s education
from its earliest days in local Roman Catholic Church parish schools to 2018.

The project celebrates the
formation of Hempstead County on Dec. 15, 1818. The county is among five
original counties to make up the state of Arkansas.

On Nov. 9, superintendent Dr.
Bobby Hart, Mason and principal Bill Hoglund presented finished copies of the
project to Archival Manager Melissa Nesbitt and SARA Foundation board member
Richard Read. Another copy will go in the Hempstead County Bicentennial Time
Capsule, which will be sealed in December.

The research project is just one
example of how the Arkansas State Archives and our branch serve the community
and preserve Arkansas’s history.

“Promoting education as well as
inviting collaboration and teamwork are part of the core values of the
Department of Arkansas Heritage, of which the State Archives is a division, and
projects like these help further that mission in serving all Arkansans,” Nesbitt said.